


hugs and trinkets

by Ecinue



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blue Sonder AU, Fluff and Angst, Hugs, Light Angst, Memories, Minor Violence, Platonic Cuddling, i dont know what im doing, im sorry for the irl name use of the beast gang but i needed characters :v, no beta we die like techno falling off skeppy's dirt platform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27949634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ecinue/pseuds/Ecinue
Summary: 5 (out of many) times that Karl is there for his friends and the 1 time he's alone (or so it appears).Blue Sonder AU credit to @chewwypepsicola on Twitter.
Relationships: GeorgeNotFound & Karl Jacobs, Karl Jacobs & Beast Gang, Karl Jacobs & DreamWasTaken, Karl Jacobs & Sapnap
Comments: 8
Kudos: 197
Collections: Blue Sonder AU





	hugs and trinkets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pupafobe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pupafobe/gifts).



> Writer's block is a bitch.
> 
> THIS IS NOT CANON UNLESS ENE SUDDENLY SAYS SO!!! THIS IS MY INTERPRETATION OF SOMETHING IN THE BLUE SONDER AU!
> 
> Blue Sonder AU credit to @chewwypepsicola on Twitter. (See End Notes for a full explanation of the inspiration for this fic.)
> 
> Disclaimer: Please be aware that everything I write is fictional and by no means supposed to allude to what should really happen. I have no intention of making these creators uncomfortable and if any of the people mentioned here blatantly state that they are uncomfortable with this, I will immediately remove this work.

**1\. The Gang**

Karl met Jimmy, Chris, and Chandler in his home village and the four of them got along like a house on fire. In fact, if you had seen that village, you would’ve thought nothing wrong with it. It had been a village of humans with the occasional mythical stumbling upon them and sparing them. It was a self-sufficient place along with the occasional travelers coming by.

For his tenth birthday, Karl was given a black fabric, a shirt of sorts, from his parents. It was a simple garment but he adored it, deciding that it was his favorite piece of fabric. It was a little big on him, most likely suited for a teen or adult, but he loved it nonetheless. It was also one of the last things he had left of them after their village was destroyed.

Shortly after he turned ten, the village went up in disaster and flames and Karl ran with his friends, forming their little traveling gang. It was hard at first; a nine-year-old, two ten-year-olds, and one twelve-year-old. They had little to no concept about surviving on their own and Karl remembered that they had all been scared, incredibly scared. They got into fights over every little thing and there was an incident where Chris had gotten so angry with Chandler that he threatened to leave. Karl had been terrified and could only cling to Jimmy for support.

At some point in time, he thinks around a year into their travels, Jimmy stopped referring to himself as Jimmy, going by the name “Beast” instead. It was simpler, he said, and it prevented people from holding leverage over him. Their little group was accepting and eventually, they were called the Beast Gang by merchants on their travels.

He loves the gang! They’re fun to hang out with and even if they never have a designated place to call “home”, they have each other. They can be each other’s home.

They’re there for each other and if any of the innkeepers ever think that it’s strange for four travelers to always dogpile on each other in a mess when they sleep, they don’t speak of it.

The gang is his family and Karl wouldn’t have it any other way.

_(On their second year together alone, the Gang gifts him a cloak for Christmas, a pale aqua cloak with white patterns. If he cried that evening, they speak nothing of it, reminiscing happily.)_

* * *

**2\. George**

Karl meets George during one of the Gang’s travels.

They had been staying in a small coastal town and Karl had been taking lessons with a nearby doctor about medicinal herbs after Chandler had nearly bled out from an accidental wound. Human villages were always strange, to say the least. Albeit he was human himself, many villages shunned the gang due to them being travelers. It was strange, to say the least, although reasonable considering how many disasters have been left behind by mythical creatures in the past.

During this visit, Karl had wandered off towards the market, searching for some new gifts and such. Among them was a multi-patterned fabric shirt with different colors and whatnot. Curiously, he had asked for the price and it was delightedly cheap. He had instantly bought it. Upon heading back to the inn that he was staying at, Karl had run face-first into a stranger.

“Sorry!”

Looking up, he was surprised to see the face of a teen staring back at him. (They were both teens but Karl likes to think that he’s a little more _mature_ after growing up without parents for so long.) The shorter boy wore a pair of white-framed goggles and a wide-brimmed witchcraft hat.

“Ah, no, it’s my fault,” The stranger smiled wryly. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“Don’t be!” Karl laughed goodheartedly. “I should’ve paid more attention too.”

“Right.”

Karl noticed the herbs in the teen’s hands and instantly grew curious. “Oh! Are you a doctor by chance?”

The stranger stiffened. “No. I practice witchcraft.”

“Will you teach me?!”

“...what?”

Looking back on it, Karl wonders why his younger self was so intrigued by George. He doesn’t regret it, of course not, but he had always wondered why he was intrigued by George. Was it the aura? Was it the goggles? Was it the hat? It was probably the hat.

George wasn’t one for hugs but they shared affection through light touches. Through the years, they grew accustomed to each other. When they were baking, they touched shoulders, reassuring the other that they were there. When they were teaching each other about the discoveries of the world, they laughed, Karl tapping George’s nose. When they cried, they hugged, a pillar for each other throughout the world’s heaviest storms.

_(Karl brightened George’s life with affection, something the latter hadn’t known for years before their friendship. Internally, George is grateful to Karl, forever indebted to the boy who motivated him to move forward, for being his first real friend in years. As repayment, he gifts Karl a pair of earrings, earrings that Karl still wears to this day.)_

* * *

**3\. Sapnap**

Sapnap was the first demon that Karl meets and he’s so much different from what the latter expected. The demon is _very_ emotion-driven and hyperactive, often brash and loud, so much louder than George. Granted, George and Dream are loud in their own ways, but Sapnap really takes the cake. It’s nothing bad, of course, it had just been...unexpected.

Karl had been stopping by one day when he had met Sapnap. He had heard about the two demons through George’s letters but it had been the first time he had seen one. The demon had been beaming and had rambled excitedly. It was amazingly surreal to meet someone who shared his energy and affection.

“What’s it like being a demon?” Karl had asked one day.

Sapnap had paused and turned. “Why?”

“You’re nothing like what people told me about demons,” The human had pointed out. “I wanna know what those demons are like.”

“...they’re brutal,” Sapnap seemed to struggle with the words. “Demons are cruel and our society is based on violence. Beating each other up, fighting to the death, having corpses as trophies, those are all considered normal for us.”

Karl hummed in acknowledgment, concealing his disgust.

“Hell is basically a wasteland,” Sapnap muttered, looking down at his hands. “To rise to the top, you have to fight, and if you lose, you’re a disgrace. I-”

“Sapnap, stop.”

He looked up sharply but Karl only stared him down. “Don’t keep going if it’s painful.”

Sapnap took a shuddering breath before tilting his head in question. Karl smiled, nodding, and the demon launched himself into the hug. Sapnap was warm, a fire demon that radiated heat. It was comfortable and Karl could feel himself melting into the embrace.

_(Karl had been so different from Dream and George. Sapnap was absolutely shocked to discover someone who was just as affectionate as he was. The first thing he did for his new cuddle buddy when he returned to Hell was pick up some gems and bring them back to Karl. The latter had been delighted and had strung them all into a necklace. No, Sapnap didn’t cry when he found out, shut up Dream.)_

* * *

**4\. Dream**

Dream was difficult to adjust to. He was mysterious, far more cryptic and vague than the other two combined. He rarely talked to Karl at first and preferred to remain glued to Sapnap and George’s sides, even going so far as to remain in his cat form rather than humanoid form. It had hurt, Karl admitted, and it had taken roughly one breakdown later for Dream to realize that the latter had been unintentionally isolating Karl.

Of course, Dream had apologized later, and Karl had accepted it.

“Do I make you uncomfortable?”

Dream’s question had been out of the blue one morning when George and Sapnap were out foraging, leaving Karl and Dream alone back at the hut. Karl startled, glancing over, confusion etched on his face. “What?”

“You always avoid me,” The masked demon said, “and you seem to not want anything to do with me. Do I make you uncomfortable?”

Karl blinked for a moment. The implications were evident. Karl hadn’t hugged Dream yet at all and yet he would do it every time he was there with Sapnap and George.

Wasting no time, the human moved forward and squished Dream into a hug, earning a surprised squeak from the demon.

“You could’ve just asked, you know,” Karl murmured.

Dream only hugged back, burying his face into Karl’s shoulder. Clearly, he was as affectionate as his cat form appeared to be.

_(Karl had always been nothing short of kind and accepting towards him, even after he discovered Dream’s scars. Thus, the one time that Dream had made Karl cry, Sapnap and George had lectured him for nearly four hours before Karl tearfully said it was alright. As an apology, Dream had meticulously crafted a belt with the help of someone he knew in Hell before gifting it to Karl. The latter had cried again, happy tears this time, and Dream had smiled behind his mask.)_

* * *

**5\. Fight**

In all his years of knowing George, Karl has never seen the elder so angry. In fact, he’s never seen the trio this angry.

He stands by the kitchen counter, watching helplessly as the three glare at each other, tearing down each other with words they don’t mean. They’ll regret those words later, he knows it, but for now, the three are content with screaming at each other. He doesn’t even know why they’re fighting. They never enjoy letting him know about their demon drama and their pasts and he’s alright with that.

He only wishes that they would tell him so he could stop them from saying something irreversible.

“WHY CAN’T YOU JUST UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES?”

“MAYBE BECAUSE THE TWO OF YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!”

“WE FUCKING CARE!”

“SURE DOESN’T SEEM LIKE IT!”

“CAN BOTH OF YOU JUST FUCK OFF?!”

Dream storms out first, always the angriest, and Sapnap follows shortly. George is alone in the living room, trembling with clenched fists and teary eyes.

“George?” Karl calls tentatively.

George whips around, eyes flashing. “Not the time! Fuck off, Karl!”

Instantly, his expression goes slack with horror and he’s rushing to the kitchen counter to encase Karl in a hug. “Wait, shit, I’m sorry, shit shit shit–”

Karl only sighs and hugs George back, patting George’s head. “It’s okay. I know you’re feeling angry right now. Sit down; I’ll finish making the cookies from earlier.”

George sat at one of the barstools at the counter, eyes flitting about guiltily. Karl watched him out of the corner of his eyes as he picked up the briefly finished platter of cookie batter and placed it into the smoker nearby. He wondered why they fought. Sapnap and Dream fought frequently, that was no surprise, but Dream and George never fought, at least, not in front of him. Sapnap and George bickered but there were never any full-blown arguments. He wondered why they fought.

A sniffle interrupts his thoughts and Karl turns to see George rubbing furiously at his eyes. “George?”

“I…” George starts and then falters. “I’m just annoyed with them.”

“Mind telling me why?”

Something flashes through George’s eyes and he hesitantly shakes his head. “No, sorry. It’s more of a...private matter.”

There’s a feeling akin to the resentment of being left out that rises in Karl’s gut but he pushes it down as he hums in understanding. “Well, how did the argument start, Gogy?”

“I...Dream wanted to do something...and Sapnap and I disagreed with him but we also disagreed with each other,” George murmured, trying to phrase it in a way that left out all the important bits. It was annoying but Karl didn’t mind. He was used to it.

“Hug?”

Karl smiled, offering, and George didn’t hesitate to bury himself in the younger’s warm embrace. Together, they stayed in the kitchen until the cookies finished. Of the demons, Sapnap was the first to return. Despite his emotions running high, he had always been the more sensitive one and the one that cared more about the other two. When he had arrived at the door, George had pointedly looked away as Karl greeted him at the door.

“Cooled off?” Karl asked quietly.

“A little,” Sapnap said in response.

“Cuddles?”

“Yeah.”

As talkative as the two were, they rarely needed to share words when it came to hugs. They understood each other, personalities being too alike not to. Karl dragged Sapnap towards the couch where George had moved to, a plate of cookies on the table in front of him. George looked up warily, emotions tender.

“Sorry for yelling at you,” Sapnap mumbled.

George only smiled slightly. “It was my fault too, you idiot.”

The duo piled onto the couch, tangling together as Karl stood by the door, waiting for the last member of the trio to arrive. Dream had the worst temper out of them and it had once taken Dream three days to even acknowledge that he was in the wrong. Still, the demon didn’t normally storm off when Karl was around so, with the bribe of cookies, Karl doubted that Dream would be able to stay away for long.

True to his predictions, the grumpy demon appeared within the next hour.

They didn’t say anything, never needing to say anything. Instead, all four of them merely piled onto the couch, sharing cookies as they played a disc in the background, music filling the air.

_(That evening, when Karl was fast asleep, the trio glanced at each other and nodded silently. It was one of their unspoken agreements: they were never to tell Karl of the demon they were hunting down. The boy did not need to know about the demon that ruined his childhood. They will never bring up those memories of pain for him again. They would make the demon pay.)_

* * *

**+1. Drifting**

The world was a quiet buzz around him as he found himself lying in the middle of a clearing. The sky was bright and the sun shone down on him, basking him with its warm rays. He’s tired and he wonders what’ll happen if he just goes to sleep now. Briefly, he finds himself grateful that he changed out of his turtleneck and multi-patterned shirt earlier. Unfortunately, this shirt was now ruined. He exhales quietly, apologizing internally to George for ruining his white shirt.

_“KARL!”_

Was someone calling for him? He doesn’t know. His vision’s blurry and there’s the faint taste of blood on his lips, the metallic scent wafting through the air. He’s tired. He wants to go to sleep. It feels as if he’s in the middle of a cuddling session with the trio and they’re using the warmth to lure him to sleep.

_“Karl, please, you have to stay awake.”_

The world sounds so muddled and his body feels so heavy. Who’s calling him?

“Karl, it’s me, Sapnap.”

He blinks for a moment before shuddering a small breath. “S...Sap?”

There’s a blurry figure in his vision, their yellow eyes peering down at him. “Karl...awake.”

“What?”

“You need to stay awake.”

“S’hard,” Karl slurred.

“I know it’s hard but please try.”

“...okay…”

It was hard to stay awake but he would do anything that the trio asks of him. His eyes kept drooping but he forced them to stay open. Exhaustion weighed down on him and he wondered what was going on.

_“...good...stable…”_

“Karl, can you hear me?”

“Y’a.”

“You’re going to be okay, you hear me? You’re going to be okay.”

“Sleep?”

“Yeah, you can sleep now. We’re not going anywhere; we’re here for you.”

“Pr’mise?”

“Yes.”

He allowed his eyes to slip shut and his consciousness to fade to nothingness.

**-**

**-**

**-**

**-**

**-**

**-**

**-**

**-**

“What the hell did you do to him?!”

Chandler was angry, angry in a way that the trio had never seen before from the playful male. He was gripping Dream’s collar so tightly to the point where Chris had to intervene and made sure that Chandler didn’t accidentally choke the demon.

“I didn’t do shit!” Dream growled. “We went out and came back to find him missing. The scent of blood was prominent so I headed here and found him like this.”

Chris clicked his tongue in annoyance as Beast stepped up, his expression grim. “Well? Did you get rid of the demon?”

Chandler and Chris gave him confused glances but Sapnap stepped up, nodding. “Yeah. We finished that bastard off.”

A dark smile spread across Beast’s face as he nodded in approval. “Good. Don’t let Karl know we were here. Pretend as if nothing happened.”

The trio exchanged glances and agreed quickly, letting Beast leave as Chandler and Chris buzzed with questions around him. George exhaled shakily, glancing over to the couch where Karl was sleeping, his shirt removed and bandages across his torso. “They can be scary sometimes.”

“Well, they are always happy and pliant with a touch of chaotic usually,” Dream answered. “Seeing them angry is like seeing the blue moon; it’s so rare and unexpected that you can’t help but be startled.”

Sapnap was quiet for a moment before he sighed.

“At least we all have one thing in common.”

“What’s that?” The other two turned to him as Sapnap gave a wry smile.

“We’d kill anyone and burn down the world just to protect him.”

The other two stiffened but they knew the answer loud and clear; they agreed.

Somewhere far away, in the burnt ashes of a village, a demon’s corpse remained, black blood splattered against the ground. The next angel that stumbled upon it nearly vomited from disgust at the carnage.

They would do anything to protect him, even if it meant a massacre had to happen.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope yall enjoyed this one~ This is for Byrd, aka [pupafobe](https://twitter.com/pupafobe), who was the leading creator for the Blue Sonder Karl design and the artist of my profile pic which is my sona. Byrd, you're amazing and you deserve all the love and support.
> 
> On the flip side, I haven't been so fucking tired ever since....yesterday. School hit me hard and writer's block delivered a double whammy and now I'm forever crippled and can only write fics when I'm looking away from blaze-farming on the Sondersmp. I'm very tired, in case I haven't mentioned that already. Infinitely tired.
> 
> Maybe it's cause this is fluffier than what I normally write and I don't write fluff. Idk man. Tryna scourge some more ideas from the pits of my brain. Head empty, only Minecraft.
> 
> ~~Fuck school. Fuck writer's block. Fuck this stupid project I have to finish. I'm going to bed. It's like 12 something AM.~~
> 
> 1 - I headcanon that everything minus the shirt and pants in Karl's character design was gifted. The turtleneck is from his deceased parents, the cloak is from the Gang, the earrings from George, the necklace from Sapnap, and the belt from Dream. (Also Byrd lowkey confirmed that the jewelry were all gifted so yeah.)
> 
> 2 - Karl avoided hugging Dream for a while because he thought that Dream wasn't affectionate. (Spoiler Alert: Dream is _very_ affectionate.)
> 
> 3 - The "thing" that the trio and Beast are not telling Karl about is that they tracked down and killed the demon who was the source/cause of the downfall of their childhood village. Yeah. No need to tell the cinnamon roll about how they yeeted a demon into scraps and guts.
> 
> [Feel free to come to yell at me at @ecinue_unicorn on Twitter!](https://twitter.com/ecinue_unicorn)


End file.
